Confidence continues slide in Nov.

NEW YORK— Consumer confidence took an unexpected slide during November, wiping out analysts’ expectations for a comeback, and tumbled for a fourth straight month, hampered by a weakening jobs outlook.

The Conference Board's widely watched barometer of consumer sentiment and forward consumer spending slipped 2.6 percent, to a current reading of 90.5 percent, down from an October level of 92.9. Over the past five months, the index has skidded 14.4 percent from a 13-month high of 105.7 in July.

The outlook through the holidays is holding steady, said The Conference Board, but looking beyond the upcoming holidays, “the continuing erosion in expectations suggests consumers do not feel the economy is likely to gain major momentum in early 2005," according to Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center.

The employment picture, the business think tank reported, was not as encouraging as a month ago. Looking out six months, the number of consumers who expect fewer jobs to become available rose to 19.7 percent from 18.3 percent. And their outlook for the economy continued to erode, with the number that expect conditions to worsen increasing to 11.9 percent from 10.5 percent.